What Are The Transmission Routes Of Monkeypox? Which Groups Of People Are Susceptible?

Since May this year, monkeypox cases and community transmission have been reported in many non-endemic countries around the world. In order to prepare for the medical response to monkeypox in advance and improve the ability of early clinical identification and standardized diagnosis and treatment, the National Health Commission and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine organized and formulated the "Monkeypox Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines (2022 Edition)" and released it.

According to the guideline, monkeypox is a zoonotic viral disease caused by monkeypox virus infection. The main clinical manifestations are fever, rash, and lymphadenopathy. The main source of infection is rodents infected with the monkeypox virus. Primates (including monkeys, chimpanzees, humans, etc.) can also become sources of infection after infection.

Get Protecting monkeypox virus Medicine-Cistanche

 Monkeypox is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by monkeypox virus infection. Recently, more than 120 cases of monkeypox have been reported in at least 11 countries outside Africa. Monkeypox is not an "emerging infectious disease". Human infection has been reported as early as 1970, and it has been prevalent in Central and West African countries since then.

Animal hosts for the monkeypox virus include a range of rodents and primates. In 1958, the monkeypox virus was first discovered in monkeys and was named after it, but it is actually rodents such as mice and squirrels that mainly carry and spread the virus.

The pathogen causing monkeypox is called monkeypox virus (Monkeypox virus), which is a DNA double-stranded virus belonging to the genus Orthopoxvirus of the Poxviridae family. . Since the eradication of smallpox in 1980, monkeypox virus has become the orthodox virus with the greatest impact on public health.

Epidemiological history of monkeypox virus

Monkeypox virus is mainly endemic in West and Central Africa. In 1970, the first case of human monkeypox virus infection was found in Congo (Kinshasa), and since then, 10 African countries have successively reported human monkeypox cases. The first outbreak outside the African continent occurred in the United States in 2003, with more than 70 cases and no deaths. Since 2018, Israel, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and other countries have found infected people among travelers from Nigeria. Recently, monkeypox cases have been reported in many countries around the world, but the investigation found that most monkeypox cases did not have a clear travel history in Central and West Africa. The monkeypox virus is undergoing human-to-human transmission and may have been in these areas. spread within the community.

Will it become a pandemic like the new coronavirus?

 According to the transmission route of monkeypox, it can be seen that monkeypox virus is not easily transmitted from person to person unless there is close contact with an infected person, so we do not need to panic too much. In addition, there are no confirmed cases of monkeypox in my country, but as the epidemic situation in other countries increases, the risk of imported cases of monkeypox in my country will also increase accordingly. Therefore, external prevention of importation is critical.

What are the modes of transmission of monkeypox?

Monkeypox patients and animals infected with the monkeypox virus are the main sources of infection of monkeypox. In general, the monkeypox virus can spread in the following ways:

  (1) Animal-to-human transmission is the most common, and infection is caused by contact with scratches or bites of infected animals, body fluids, blood, skin or mucous membranes of infected animals, etc., and consumption of undercooked meat and other animal products from infected animals. There is a risk.

  (2) Human-to-human transmission In general, human-to-human transmission of the monkeypox virus is not common. But available information suggests that human-to-human transmission is occurring among people who have had close physical contact with symptomatic cases. The human-to-human transmission route includes close contact with the respiratory secretions, skin lesions or contaminated items of infected persons, and it usually takes longer face-to-face to transmit respiratory droplets.

In addition, the transmission of the monkeypox virus can also be transmitted from the mother to the fetus through the placenta, resulting in congenital monkeypox, or occurs during birth and close contact after birth.

What are the symptoms after infection of Monkeypox?

  The clinical symptoms of monkeypox infection are similar to those of smallpox, but are less severe.

  Its course is divided into three stages:

  (1) General incubation period: 6 to 13 days, the longest fluctuation range can reach 5 to 21 days;

  (2) Fever period in the early stage of the disease: it can last for 1 to 3 days and is characterized by acute fever (body temperature ≥ 38.5°C), headache, swollen lymph nodes, myalgia (muscle and body pain), back pain, weakness (extreme weakness), etc. It is characterized by swollen lymph nodes in the neck, behind the ear, axilla, or groin in about 90% of cases;

  (3) Specific rash stage: The rash is about 2 to 5 mm in size, develops from macules to papules, vesicles, and pustules, and eventually scabs and falls off. The rash is mainly concentrated on the face (about 95% of cases) and limbs (75%), with a centrifugal distribution, and the oral mucosa (70%), genitals (30%), conjunctiva (20%), and cornea can be affected. The number of rashes varies widely from patient to patient, ranging from a few to thousands.

 How to prevent it?

  (1) Strictly control the source of infection

  Avoid contact with virus-infected animals and patients and their contaminants. Strictly isolate sick animals and patients (suspected and confirmed patients) until the lesions scab and fall off.

  (2) Cut off the transmission route

No cases of monkeypox have been found in my country, and the virus has not been found in animals, so the focus is on "foreign prevention and importation." Strictly restrict the import of wild animals, especially any African rodents; prohibit the sale, transportation and release of prairie dogs and African rodents; quarantine suspected or confirmed patients entering the country, or close contacts with infected animals or patients; Patients who have been imported and close contacts must be treated in isolation on the spot, and patient secretions, sputum, blood, and exudates should be strictly disinfected and treated. It is forbidden for individuals to raise, capture and eat wild animals, and it is strictly forbidden to keep them as pets. Good hand hygiene should be maintained after contact with infected animals or humans, and eye and respiratory protection should be used when caring for patients.

Get a Provent monkeypox virus Medicine-Cistanche

  (3) Protect susceptible populations

There are currently no targeted treatments for monkeypox or vaccines based on the monkeypox virus. The clinical treatment is mainly symptomatic and supportive. Previous data have shown that the smallpox vaccine is up to 85% effective against the monkeypox virus, and the smallpox vaccine can be administered after exposure to monkeypox to help prevent or reduce its severity. Therefore, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that vaccination within 2 weeks after exposure, especially within the first 4 days, can effectively prevent monkeypox virus infection and reduce clinical symptoms.

If you have any question, you can send us Email: wallence.suen@wecistanche.com